SP firm, threatens to sack IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal

Confrontation between the Centre and UP government over Durga Shakti Nagpal intensified with SP on Monday threatening to seek withdrawal of all IAS officers from the state after the Union government suggested that it could step in if the suspended official writes to it directly.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, "We are in touch with the state government to find out the full details of the issue."

He told reporters in Parliament complex that the laid down rules to deal with such cases will be followed. Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy said that under the rules, the officer who has been suspended has the right to appeal.

"She has not approached us so far. But if she sends her appeal to us, we will send its copy to the state government and seek its response. Then, we will decide the future course of action. Normally, an officer approaches the state government... We cannot act suo motu," he said.

Reacting sharply, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav said, "Uttar Pradesh would say that we do not want any IAS officer. Let the Centre withdraw all these officers from the state and it would run the state with its own officers." The Centre had yesterday asked the UP government to immediately give a report on the suspension of Nagpal, a 2010 batch IAS officer who had cracked down on sand mafia in Gautam Budh Nagar area (Noida).

Narayanasamy had said yesterday this was the third such letter sent to the state government so far after 28-year-old Nagpal was suspended on July 27.

The Centre's fresh reminder came in the backdrop of Sonia Gandhi, who is Chairperson of National Advisory Council (NAC), writing a letter to the Prime Minister, saying that Nagpal should not be "unfairly treated".

"We must ensure that the officer is not unfairly treated," Gandhi had said in her letter to Singh, who holds the charge of Personnel Ministry.

The UP government had yesterday served a charge sheet to the IAS officer.

Akhilesh Defends Durga's suspension

A defiant Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav once again justified his government's action against IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, comparing the move to students being punished by parents and teachers.

"Sarkar isee tarha chalti hai, agar koi adhikari galti karta hai to saza milti hai" (the government functions this way, if any officer commits mistake he/she gets punishment)," the chief minister said during a function organised to felicitate school children.

Brazen in his indictment of the IAS officer - an issue which has created rift between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress at the Centre - the chief minister said that like parents or teachers who often beat up children for their mistake so also was the case with the state government.

He even added there would be a large number of children in the gathering who had been thrashed by their teachers, thus making it clear that the government had the right to punish errant officers.

The UP government had last night chargesheeted the officer for allegedly not following due process of law while demolishing a wall of a mosque in village Kadalpur in Gautam Buddha Nagar on July 27.

In the meantime, Durga Nagpal -- who has been attached to the board of revenue office, Lucknow after her suspension -- on Monday reached there to collect the charge sheet.

The state government had sent the charge sheet to the board office to be served on the officer.

The chairman Jagan Mathews handed over the papers to the suspended officer, who has been asked to reply within 15 days.

Mulayam backs son Akhilesh, silences criticsSamajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday said his son and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's move to suspend the 2009-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Durga Shakti Nagpal is absolutely correct.

"It is a correct decision. If the government had not taken a decision it would have been a problem," he told media outside the Parliament in New Delhi.

Yadav, however, refused to comment on whether the suspension would be revoked.

Akhilesh govt charges Durga with not following lawThe Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday issued the chargesheet against suspended Gautam Budh Nagar sub-divisional magistrate Durga Shakti Nagpal, giving the IAS officer 15 days to reply to the charges against her, said a government official.

A copy of the chargesheet was sent to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), as required under the provisions of the All India Service Rules, the official who did not want to be named added. Read more...

Narayanasamy confident of Mulayam's support on food billAmid the ongoing war of words on the suspension of Uttar Pradesh IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagal, minister of state in the PMO and personnel V Narayanasamy on Monday expressed confidence that the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) would support the food security bill.

"I would not like to comment on the statement made by an individual leader. The government earlier had talks with the Samajwadi Party leader. So, I am confident that the Samajwadi Party will stand with us and help in the passage of the food security bill," Narayanasamy informed. Read more...

Amid Durga row, SP to vote against food security ordinanceBarely two days after Congress president Sonia Gandhi said suspended Uttar Pradesh IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal should not be “unfairly treated”, the Samajwadi Party announced it would not support the Centre’s food security ordinance in Parliament. The Congress-led UPA’s ambitious food security programme is the cornerstone of Gandhi’s welfare agenda.

“We will vote against it,” SP general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Naresh Agarwal said on Sunday, ruling out any support to the ordinance “in its current form”.

Agarwal has taken on Gandhi following her letter to the PM on Friday over Nagpal’s suspension. Read more...

Centre seeks report on UP IAS officer Durga's suspensionThe Centre has sought a report from Samajwadi Party-led Uttar Pradesh government on suspension of an IAS officer, who had cracked down on sand mafia involved in rampant quarrying along the banks of Yamuna river.

The move comes in the backdrop of Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday writing a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying that Durga Sakthi Nagpal, a 2010-batch officer, should not be "unfairly treated". Read more...

Sonia supports Durga, asks PM to ensure justiceThe suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal caused a political storm on Saturday as Congress chief Sonia Gandhi came out in her support, prompting a sharp retort from the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday, Gandhi asked him to ensure Nagpal was treated fairly. “There is widespread concern because the officer, in the course of her public duty, was seen to be standing up to vested interests engaging in illegal activity,” she said. Read more...